Indiana Sec. of State Charlie White speaks out after indictment | POLITICAL NOTEBOOK

INDIANAPOLIS - After Charlie White admitted to voting last year in a precinct in which he did not live during a strange 13-minute talk with reporters on his way into court Friday, his lawyer had a piece of advice for him.

"Shut up," Dennis Zahn told his client. He grabbed White by the arm and escorted him away from reporters.

Sean Keefer, who was White's campaign manager and then his deputy secretary of state and chief of staff, resigned Friday.

Keefer's deputy position is established by law, and he would have assumed White's duties if, as many top Republican officials had urged, White took a leave of absence while his legal matters are being resolved.

A Hamilton County grand jury has indicted White on seven felony counts. He is accused of voter fraud stemming from his decision to register to vote at his ex-wife's address around the same time he was moving to a new condominium across the town of Fishers, Ind., last year.

Two special prosecutors allege that White did so in order to keep his seat on the Fishers Town Council. His ex-wife's address is within the district he used to represent, but his new condo is not.

White remarried last year, and he also divulged on Friday that the special prosecutors' investigation is also targeting his current wife.

Short of the mark?

In the lead-up to last week's massive rally in a plaza outside the Statehouse, organizers said they anticipated 25,000 or more people showing up.

The actual crowd size, according to the Indiana State Police: 8,000.

Republicans were eager to point that out as evidence that union influence has waned.

Eric Holcomb, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, did so in a video during which he referenced "all the noise coming out of the Statehouse today."

Holcomb pointed out that some of the buses that carried protesters came from states such as Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.

"Don't get me wrong, we appreciate the tourism," he said.

The Indiana AFL-CIO disputed the state police crowd estimate. Spokesman Jeff Harris said those estimates were based on a formula that underestimated the density of the crowd. He said attendance was more than double what the state police suggested.

Several of those out-of-staters in attendance told the Courier & Press they were there to combat what they perceive as a national anti-labor movement being driven by Republican legislatures and governors.

About one in 12 private-sector workers in Indiana is a union member, and Holcomb said House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, who leads a Democratic group with 40 of the chamber's 100 seats, is beholden to those unions.

"Pat Bauer's small caucus fled the state because the people that fund their campaigns told them to," Holcomb said.

Protests will continue — though at a much smaller size than Thursday's rally — this week. The Indiana AFL-CIO says a group will get together at noon Central time today at the Statehouse.

Senate schedule

Though Indiana House Democrats are still in Urbana, Ill., the Senate — where Republicans have a supermajority — has scheduled several committee hearings this week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a constitutional same-sex marriage ban during a hearing scheduled for 8 a.m. CDT Wednesday in the Senate chamber.

The Senate Education and Career Development Committee will take testimony on a measure that could quickly expand the number of charter schools in Indiana at a hearing at 12:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday in Room 233.

Both of those hearings can be viewed online by visiting in.gov/legislative and clicking "Watch Indiana General Assembly Live" in the upper right corner.